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Wingless Films
Wingless Films is an amateur film production group founded and based in Plymouth, England. Borne out of Eternal Silence, it was co-created by Jim Elton and Tom Menary on 15th December, 2010. Several Eternal Silence films were carried over into the new production group, including Possession and The Walk. History The group that became known as Wingless Films was originally part of Eternal Silence, and released several short films including Striker, Jericho and The Passage of Time. During production of Captive, Chapter Two, it was decided that a re-branding was in order, and the group shifted to the name Just Wing It Productions. However, it was later discovered that the title was already in use by another production group—and so, unable to use "Just Wing It", the team settled for being "wingless". As an artefact of this brief change, a "Just Wing It Production" title card remains in the opening to Captive, Chapter Two. The Passage of Time Although Jericho and The Walk were retroactively added to the Wingless Films channel, The Passage of Time is considered to be the first major entry in the group's filmography. Notably, it introduced a version of what would later be known as the "Wingless Sting" music cue, and marked the first use of an original score by Tom Menary. The film was released on 31st October, 2010. Establishing Wingless Bounded followed, featuring the group's first major use of greenscreen work, and a rare supporting role from Jim Elton. The next film was a collaboration, intended to follow and complement the events of Captive, Chapter One. Chapter Two was partly a reworking of the unmade short, Protected, which was slated to follow on from the horror short Possession. The group's biggest undertaking up to that point was the production of Capsule, which featured effects and model work, as well as studio and location shooting. Wingless Films received contributions from model-maker Rae Wetherill, whose spaceship kit was briefly seen on Sam's viewscreen, and from JAW, who allowed the use of his acoustic cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" for the film's final scene and credits sequence. Capsule was the first film to display the "Wingless Films" title card. Short presentation films followed, including Fifty, which saw the first use of the Canon 550D camera that would become a mainstay of future productions. Wingless was released in April 2011, featuring scenes shot in Dartmoor on the Canon 550D. Spirit of the Frontier saw a return to Dartmoor for the group's most ambitious project with a Western epic. Allister Gall of Imperfect Cinema portrayed the villain, and photographer Mike Kinsey released a portfolio of a day's shooting outside Princetown."Mike Kinsey's On Set "Spirit of the Frontier"" at Wingless Films on facebook The film was well-received, and was submitted to both the Limelight and Royal Television Society Awards following its release in July 2011. A collaboration with Mike Kinsey and Princetown continued, as the group covered a fund-raising event held at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels. The footage became part of the All Angels documentary, and the short drama Sanctuary was later filmed inside the church, with permission from the Churches Conservation Trust. Seeking locations further afield, Wingless Films travelled to the Lee Moor area to film the science-fiction drama Scout. This film was released in monochrome, and featured a subtitled alien language. Props were supplied by photographer Liam Docherty, who also assisted in location scouting, and astrophotography images over the opening and closing titles were supplied by Robin Manford. Several shorter productions followed, including Straw Man, filmed and edited in a single day, and Chase the Dragon, which returned Jim and Tom to their hometown of Bridgwater. The narration for Darkness was also recorded here, for a film intended as a prelude to a series of mini-episodes entitled Sunrise. This has since been postponed, though the group continued to keep to its speedy output rate by completing Camera Obscura partly for a student competition run by the website Loccit. This film was based on an older idea from the aborted Hero's Journey story arc, and saw completion with the aid of Liam Docherty, again supplying props and locations. With the release of the mood piece Knight and Dartmoor-set drama Disavowed, Wingless Films prepared to enter its second year of filmmaking with appearances on The Movie Show on Riviera FM, and collaborations with Metal Snare Production. The second year As of December 2011, Wingless Films was committed to several collaborations, including the feature-length thriller They're Coming with Emberlense Productions, and Bill Sheikh's Afterdeath. Tom and Jim also began an association with The Film Show, continuing into the following year. The first film of 2012, Exile, was released on January 15, debuting a new ident for the group. Intervention followed, introducing Bill Sheikh as an actor, co-starring alongside Tom in a dramatic two-hander shot in monotone, and with a decidedly more comic tone than previous productions. The following short, Desert of Two Devils, was produced for submission to Imperfect Cinema, as a one minute film exploring themes of chance and chaos. Websites Wingless Films' web presence began on YouTube, having used the Eternal Silence video channel to host all films until the release of ''Captive, Chapter Two, which saw the creation of the Wingless Films channel, which became the primary host of all productions from 2010 onwards. A facebook group was created on 16th December, promoting the YouTube channel and adding photo galleries of film stills and behind-the-scenes shots. It later linked to blog posts and music samples from upcoming or released soundtracks, as well as debuting teaser posters, new photos and production updates. The Wingless Films Tumblr account was created by Tom Menary on 16th December, beginning with an introduction to the cast and crew."From We to You" on the Wingless Films Tumblr blog It also charted the creation of the "Wingless Films" name,"The Fall and Rise" on the Wingless Films Tumblr blog and posted a sample of the Capsule script during coverage of the film's shooting."A Script!" on the Wingless Films Tumblr blog A Vimeo account was created on 2nd February 2011, reposting films from YouTube, and was followed on 7th February by a Twitter account maintained by Jim Elton. In April 2011, Tom and Jim created personal websites associated with Wingless Films, both containing links to the films. These would ultimately be replaced in 2012 with new websites for both.Tom Menary's official siteJim Elton's official site The music of Wingless Films was originally hosted on Bandcamp.com, but migrated to Tom Menary's Last.fm Artist Profile on 13th March. The sci-fi news site Nebula One has promoted several Wingless Films, notably Capsule"Wingless Films - Capsule" on Nebula One and Wingless."Wingless Films - Wingless" on Nebula One Filmography As of September 2012, Wingless Films has thirty-one short films and other productions in its back catalogue, ranging from April 2010. References External links * * * * Category:Wingless Films